Collectible astronomy books and classics

I have started to form a small collection of collectible and classic books in astronomy. I am interested in boosting this collection. I am in the market to buy astronomy books first editions hardcover signed by author or with an interesting association. On my collect list I have Arthur Clarke, Patrick Moore, Fred Hoyle, Mary Somerville, Eddington, Hubble, Herschel, Agnes Clerke,Percival Lowell, Martin Ryle, Martin Rees, Stephen Hawking, etc If you have something that is taking up space in the attic and you want to convert to cash then do be in touch. I can pay in any major currency, and I pay shipping costs. But please note that I do not collect damaged books.

Simon
sam11@cam.ac.uk
http://www.totalastronomy.com

Georges Lemaître, Big Bang, Fireworks universe

Today's neglected pioneer is Georges Lemaître, who is the most famous alumnus of my College (St Edmund's College, Cambridge). He interpreted Hubble's discovery of the expansion of the universe correctly. As Marcia Bartusiak says in her book The Day we Found the Universe (Pantheon 2009) "Lemaître was the first to say directly that the galaxies are fleeing from us because spacetime at each and every point throughout the cosmos is continually stretching." Crucially. Lemaître did not say the galaxies are fleeing from us. Rather, as Bartusiak puts it, the galaxies embedded in spacetime are participating in a free ride

Stay tuned for more blogs on great astronomers who have been neglected by the textbook writers. Tomorrow I'll write of Robert Grosseteste and the medieval Big Bang universe

Simon
http://www.totalastronomy.com

Vesto Slipher, discovered expansion of the universe

As a historian of astronomy, I have started to take an interest in the achievements of astronomers who have been neglected by popular science writers and authors of astronomy textbooks. One such is Vesto Slipher, of the Lowell Observatory. Hired to do planetary science, he became a pioneer in extragalactic optical spectroscopy, working under very difficult conditions. He developed instrumentation and technique. It was Vesto Slipher, NOT Edwin Hubble, who discovered the recession of the galaxies. Marcia Bartusiak is the expert on Vesto Slipher. Her book, The Day we Found the Universe (1 January 1925) is superb in every way.

Stay tuned for some more neglected figures.

Simon
http://www.totalastronomy.com

Digne-les-Bains

Tomorrow (10 August 2009) we set off from Nice by road for Digne-les-Baines and Sisteron in the Hauts Alpes de Provence. This is the first sector of a four day journey back to Cambridge. Digne is noteworthy to astronomers because in 1631, he became the first person to observe the transit of a planet across the Sun, viewing the transit of Mercury that Kepler had predicted.

Wine - Seigneurie d'Arse

My son-in-law just gave me, for a bit of a laugh, a wine from Fitou (Languedoc-Rousillon) that rejoices in the name Seigneurie d'Arse. That's the name of the chateau. It's made at the chateau, and the 2005 vintage got a silver medal at Macon in 2007. Modestly priced at €6 in Leclerc supermarket. I doubt that you can buy it outside south west France. It would make an amusing item on a menu for a formal dinner

Comets Water Life!

Comets, water, and life, an astrobiology news item Just published in Int J Astrobiology (which I edit) the following story about comets, water and life http://tinyurl.com/m59wpo. This one has legs
Simon
http://totalastronomy.com

Cotes du Rhone Villages

In pursuit of good wine, I visited several villages in the Cotes du Rhone appellation, southern France. I much admire the wine from small producers (recoltants) who hand pick their own grapes. These artisanal wines never show up in supermarkets in the UK. I purchased very good CdR Villages and Vacqueras from La Bastide St Vincent (Guy DANIEL).